The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire and a method of manufacturing the same, more particularly to a flexible tape disposed on the inside of the tread portion to improve steering stability and ride comfort of the tire.
In the pneumatic tires especially for passenger cars, conventionally employed in order to improve the steering stability is to increase the rigidity of the sidewall portions and/or tread portion by adjusting the properties, e.g. hardness, modulus and the like of rubber components used therein and also providing reinforcing cord layers therein such as tread belt and bead reinforcing layer. such techniques for increasing the rigidity are usually liable to deteriorate ride comfort.
On the other hand, a pneumatic tire is, in order to use without tire tube, conventionally provided along the inner surface thereof with an innerliner made of an air-impermeable rubber compound. And it has been believed that, no additional component or layer is to be disposed on the inside of the tire not to break the seal.
The inventors are however, studied and found that, by disposing a tape having special characteristics in a special position on the inside of the tire, the steering stability and ride comfort can be improved without deteriorating the sealing performance.